Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Benevolent Institutiona Year's Work.

THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONA YEAR'S WORK .

AFTER felie urgent appeals on behalf of tlie Masonio Charitable Institutions which avo "marie throughout the country clay by day , and week by week , from year ' s end to year ' s end , it is but fair the Craft should occasionally

be told the result of the solicitations which are so pertinaciously continued , and what has been done with the money subscribed . English Freemasons are doubtless accustomed to hear that the Charities of the Order are doinsr a sroorl

work , that they are dependent on the liberality of the Craft for their support , that the claims on their resources are heavy , and that generally there is much to do , and perhaps little to do it with ; but how many of them are really

conversant with the facts of the case ; know to what extent the Institutions do rely on the sympathy ofthe brethren of England , or what would happen if the flow of subscriptions should be stopped , or even materially lessened ? Of course there are some who have taken the trouble to

trunk the matter out , but the majority have given little or no serious attention to the subject . They may perhaps have beard one of the Secretaries of the Institutions make an appeal on behalf of the cause with whioh they are

associated , and which they are so ably qualified to plead for . They have been struck with the argumentative or persuasive eloquence of the speaker , and have there and then

determined to do something in support of so deserving a cause ; but on reflection they have pei-haps been led to look upon the forcible language which at the time impressed thera as but the natural utterance of a man whose sole

aim is to awaken the spirit of benevolence in his hearers , or in other words that the address was nothing more than the introductory remarks of a good man of business , whose desire it was to secure support for the Institution he

represented . There are doubtless many who look upon the appeals of the Secretaries in this light , and not a few who do not subscribe to the Institutions because of the change which takes place in their feelings . But if they do

so withhold their donations they do an injustice to a worthy cause . No matter how the Secretaries may appeal ; how they paint the horrors of old age and poverty , youth with bh ghted prospects , together with the utter helplessness of

the Institutions to cope with the many calls which are raade upon them , we do not think they can exaggerate the claims of the Charities , even if they can plead for them as forcibl

y as they deserve . Nothing that can be said as to the worthiness of our Institutions is too strong , and no language ' 8 too forcible to make use of when advocating their support . & l

un the election of annuitants which took place the same JJ-7 > - —affords us ample material on which to prove the truth t our remarks . Before going fully into details of the ^ se , however , we will attempt to defend our views by e observation .- —The Benevolent Institution has afc the

its f 1 - 0 bnnc , recl anfl seven ty-hvc annuitants on Wi lii receivin o among them thirteen thousand eight If th aU ( J f ° P onncls P er anniim in annuities alone . Js was all we had to show as the outcome of this

The Benevolent Institutiona Year's Work.

Masonic Charity , of which we are so proud , we think we shonld yet have good reason to boast , but as is known to our readers it is but tho work of one Institution out of three , and is a fair example of what is being done by

each . Let us , however , look afc the Report , as presented by the Committee ; it may briefly be described as a continuous round of congratulation , ancl when we consider what has been clone during tho past year it may well be so .

year , we are told , the Committee pointed out , with reference to fhe Festival of the year , thafc the total raised ( £ 14 , 665 13 s ) was the largest amount over contributed on a similar occasion in aid of the funds of the Institution .

ancl therefore we can imagine wifch what pleasure they have to announce—and with what pleasure tho news has been received—that this year ' s total is upwards of three thousand pounds in excess of last year , the actual figures

being £ 17 , 770 6 s 2 d . This is indeed a grand total , and reflects the greatest credit on the Chairman and tho 352 brethren who constituted the Board of Stewards afc the Festival of IS 8 H . Well may the Committee say , " Ifc is

impossible the Craft could have furnished a grander illustration than this of the loyalty with which it fulfils its most solemn obligations , '' ' and that " it is at a loss for words to sufficiently express its gratitude to the Bight

Worshipfnl Chairman ancl those who laboured so zealously ancl so successfully in securing Ibis sn ' endid result . " Not only is this the opinion of the Committee ; it must also be the verdict of every brother associated with the Institution

which has heen so nobly supported . We are very pleased to see that the Committee have recognised how much of this success is dno to the exertions of Bro . Terry , the Secretary of the Institution , and have shown the sincerity of their

recognition by presenting to thafc brother the sum of one hundred guineas , " in recognition of his great exertions to secure the success , and of the additional heavy duties which will devolve upon him in the future . " There may

be—indeed wo believe there are—brethren who question the policy of this expenditure , but we ask them to look at the result and ans-wev for themselves the question—how much of the success was due to the exertions of Bro . Terry ?

We are convinced that a large proportion of ifc has been the result of his untiring exertions ; ancl if even the £ 3000 which this year ' s Festival realised in excess of last year ' s is all that has come to the Institution in consequence of

the special work he has imposed npon himself , and wo should be inclined to say thafc even moro is due to his persistent appeals—day and nig ht be it remembered—no one would begrudge the special recognition he has been the

recipient of . It is one thing to attend a Masonic meeting once in a way , on pleasure bent , but quite another—as we can testify—to go to two , three , four or oven more each week with a set purpose in view , which really amounts to

business . An ordinary member of a Lodge can refrain from attending a meeting if he may fenl indisposed , if he have other calls on his timo , or if indeed ho m ; i , y be inclined so to do , bnfc this is not the case with brethren

who have public duties to perform ; thoy must accept and attend to every invitation they receive , no matter when or where the meeting is to be held , and sacrifice all personal calls for the good of the cause they champion . Is ifc then too much to specially reward them when they have made

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Benevolent Institutiona Year's Work.

THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONA YEAR'S WORK .

AFTER felie urgent appeals on behalf of tlie Masonio Charitable Institutions which avo "marie throughout the country clay by day , and week by week , from year ' s end to year ' s end , it is but fair the Craft should occasionally

be told the result of the solicitations which are so pertinaciously continued , and what has been done with the money subscribed . English Freemasons are doubtless accustomed to hear that the Charities of the Order are doinsr a sroorl

work , that they are dependent on the liberality of the Craft for their support , that the claims on their resources are heavy , and that generally there is much to do , and perhaps little to do it with ; but how many of them are really

conversant with the facts of the case ; know to what extent the Institutions do rely on the sympathy ofthe brethren of England , or what would happen if the flow of subscriptions should be stopped , or even materially lessened ? Of course there are some who have taken the trouble to

trunk the matter out , but the majority have given little or no serious attention to the subject . They may perhaps have beard one of the Secretaries of the Institutions make an appeal on behalf of the cause with whioh they are

associated , and which they are so ably qualified to plead for . They have been struck with the argumentative or persuasive eloquence of the speaker , and have there and then

determined to do something in support of so deserving a cause ; but on reflection they have pei-haps been led to look upon the forcible language which at the time impressed thera as but the natural utterance of a man whose sole

aim is to awaken the spirit of benevolence in his hearers , or in other words that the address was nothing more than the introductory remarks of a good man of business , whose desire it was to secure support for the Institution he

represented . There are doubtless many who look upon the appeals of the Secretaries in this light , and not a few who do not subscribe to the Institutions because of the change which takes place in their feelings . But if they do

so withhold their donations they do an injustice to a worthy cause . No matter how the Secretaries may appeal ; how they paint the horrors of old age and poverty , youth with bh ghted prospects , together with the utter helplessness of

the Institutions to cope with the many calls which are raade upon them , we do not think they can exaggerate the claims of the Charities , even if they can plead for them as forcibl

y as they deserve . Nothing that can be said as to the worthiness of our Institutions is too strong , and no language ' 8 too forcible to make use of when advocating their support . & l

un the election of annuitants which took place the same JJ-7 > - —affords us ample material on which to prove the truth t our remarks . Before going fully into details of the ^ se , however , we will attempt to defend our views by e observation .- —The Benevolent Institution has afc the

its f 1 - 0 bnnc , recl anfl seven ty-hvc annuitants on Wi lii receivin o among them thirteen thousand eight If th aU ( J f ° P onncls P er anniim in annuities alone . Js was all we had to show as the outcome of this

The Benevolent Institutiona Year's Work.

Masonic Charity , of which we are so proud , we think we shonld yet have good reason to boast , but as is known to our readers it is but tho work of one Institution out of three , and is a fair example of what is being done by

each . Let us , however , look afc the Report , as presented by the Committee ; it may briefly be described as a continuous round of congratulation , ancl when we consider what has been clone during tho past year it may well be so .

year , we are told , the Committee pointed out , with reference to fhe Festival of the year , thafc the total raised ( £ 14 , 665 13 s ) was the largest amount over contributed on a similar occasion in aid of the funds of the Institution .

ancl therefore we can imagine wifch what pleasure they have to announce—and with what pleasure tho news has been received—that this year ' s total is upwards of three thousand pounds in excess of last year , the actual figures

being £ 17 , 770 6 s 2 d . This is indeed a grand total , and reflects the greatest credit on the Chairman and tho 352 brethren who constituted the Board of Stewards afc the Festival of IS 8 H . Well may the Committee say , " Ifc is

impossible the Craft could have furnished a grander illustration than this of the loyalty with which it fulfils its most solemn obligations , '' ' and that " it is at a loss for words to sufficiently express its gratitude to the Bight

Worshipfnl Chairman ancl those who laboured so zealously ancl so successfully in securing Ibis sn ' endid result . " Not only is this the opinion of the Committee ; it must also be the verdict of every brother associated with the Institution

which has heen so nobly supported . We are very pleased to see that the Committee have recognised how much of this success is dno to the exertions of Bro . Terry , the Secretary of the Institution , and have shown the sincerity of their

recognition by presenting to thafc brother the sum of one hundred guineas , " in recognition of his great exertions to secure the success , and of the additional heavy duties which will devolve upon him in the future . " There may

be—indeed wo believe there are—brethren who question the policy of this expenditure , but we ask them to look at the result and ans-wev for themselves the question—how much of the success was due to the exertions of Bro . Terry ?

We are convinced that a large proportion of ifc has been the result of his untiring exertions ; ancl if even the £ 3000 which this year ' s Festival realised in excess of last year ' s is all that has come to the Institution in consequence of

the special work he has imposed npon himself , and wo should be inclined to say thafc even moro is due to his persistent appeals—day and nig ht be it remembered—no one would begrudge the special recognition he has been the

recipient of . It is one thing to attend a Masonic meeting once in a way , on pleasure bent , but quite another—as we can testify—to go to two , three , four or oven more each week with a set purpose in view , which really amounts to

business . An ordinary member of a Lodge can refrain from attending a meeting if he may fenl indisposed , if he have other calls on his timo , or if indeed ho m ; i , y be inclined so to do , bnfc this is not the case with brethren

who have public duties to perform ; thoy must accept and attend to every invitation they receive , no matter when or where the meeting is to be held , and sacrifice all personal calls for the good of the cause they champion . Is ifc then too much to specially reward them when they have made